About Akshat Rathi

Akshat Rathi is a science journalist. He has previously worked at The Economist and The Conversation. His writing has appeared in Nature, The Guardian and The Hindu. He has a PhD in chemistry from Oxford University and a BTech in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai.

After five years, Contemplation will continue from a new home (which you can find here). Thanks for reading and hope that you will continue to encourage me by subscribing to my new posts via email here.

The idea behind meditation is to sit in a comfortable pose with your eyes close and back straight, and then empty your mind of any thoughts. Sounds easy of course, but getting rid of thoughts is difficult. To aid the … Continue reading →

I recently reread Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If—”. And it reminded me of an online encounter I had with some feminists. The beautiful poem ends with this: If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, … Continue reading →

A geologist pinged me today to ask, “Nehru studied geology at Cambridge University … I wonder how much he used his science in office?” I’m not great with history, but I know many fellow Indians are aware that “to develop … Continue reading →